The King of Everything Else

Album Review

"Oh woe is me" is the attitude of "No Handouts," the opening number on Slaine's album The King of Everything Else. "It does nuthin' for me, suckin' off the blunts/I need two bitches, now, to suck me off at once" is the hard-knock life this jaded Boston brute and La Coka Nostra member lives, and while that snotty attitude and the Suburban Noize logo rotating around the spindle both spray good-taste repellent out of the speakers, the dude's got a wild style and a musical edge that's unexpected. Late album highlight "Zip Zero" features a sampled accordion, or it might even be a bandoneon, for some concertina-driven tango-hop that can't be found anywhere else, but this ain't all the new orquesta típica, since the beat on the great "Bobby Be Real" is old vaudeville music crossed with ICP's dark carnival rap-rock. "Dopehead" comes with plenty of brilliant putdowns Kevin Hart could crib ("Nuthin' worse in this world than a dopehead/Up with the birds chirping, calling Lopez") along with a vocoder-driven hook that sticks to the bones, then the unique "The Most Dangerous Drug in the World" touches upon reentering the dating scene and being surprised by how freaky sex has gotten while Slaine was stuck behind that white picket fence. Too stuffed and too scattered keeps this one off the top shelf, but the clever and fun album succeeds in the same way Devin the Dude LPs serve their party purpose.